For whom the bell tolls

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

John Donne's quote above has never sounded more ominous than in the last 10 days. 7 mails of "Remembering someone special" - some with multiple names - really sent shock waves through me, on the harsh reality that we are dying faster than ever! When is the bell going to toll for me? And when it does, how will I go - with a smile or with a whimper?